Saturday, 16 April 2011

I never knew I would enjoy solitude. I always lived in the fast lane. Then I awakened. Moved far away, and gradually moved into another tempo so to speak. I cannot
comprehend why we should have to live our lives on a roller coaster of
this and that...For me solitude was given to me as a gift, ( as I learned ) and treasured
as such. I am no multi - tasker in life and its daily functions; I lose
all focus amidst the noise and chaos around me, and it somehow makes me
nervous and upset. I love to hear my dog snoring in the distance, and
hear the trees outside rustling in the wind. I have been so fortunate
to have had a great teacher via my father. My father was a man who
worked hard for his family as a Dr., but he lived the life of a very
simple human being...he was a philosopher of all. His music made one
cry, as he levitated in meditation he would write a whole symphony of
musical works for say the 15th century...amazing to remember and then to
write it all on paper in note form. I miss him dearly and think of him each day.
I live my life in solitude whilst others make comments about my mere
existence...I'm called a loner, a hermit, anti-social and more...I do
have compassion for their viewpoints for they know no better...Also a
sense of humour which helps tremendously... I am friendly and approachable to others
seeking solitude and being happy in that situation...few have the
patience nor the feeling of the aloneness they fear so much. There is
nothing to fear....
When I was in College, I had to write poetry for my Literature class...my ambiguity was evident / different....
I am young / yet old / I am happy / yet sad / I am well / yet not / I have / yet not.....something like that....
I'm so pleased to have met some people who do understand.....my conscious is one of honesty and
trust...I live thru' my soul for I know my intuition has been a strong
one for me...I guess I'm lucky...

Dear Nora, in reading your reflections I am reminded that seeking the "company" of solitude is an ancient and deep yearning within the human psyche. Many great awakening experiences are to be had in those moments of ingatheredness. A mystical state where the several radii withdrawn from the circumference and race toward the centre of the circle of ones total consciousness. But that is the flashes of deep encounter then there is the living by that experience in daily life and perhaps being a loner is an unfair description for those who seek such solitude for they seem to me more connected with the rest of humanity in their contemplation. Finally, I would add that, speaking personally, solitude is not emptiness, is not a negation but an affirmation of something greater. That we arrived in this life "alone" took on board an identity, a role,and then leave this world "alone". That aloneness for me is "solitude" of the Soul, our primary identity, above space time, meta-historic. Therefore, solitude sought for here is for me a deep moment of encounter with Self, one's self and the greater Self. To enter into solitude for me is to enter in a "Presence", one is never alone in the company of That Presence. It is coming "Home", a knocking on the door of Self and waiting in solitude for the door to be answered. I completely appreciate the love you feel for your teacher and father, as you know I feel the same for mine. Thank you so much for sharing. I wish you well.Musa"

This is not a journey for the feet; the feet bring us only from land to land; nor need you think of coach or ship to carry you away; all this order of things you must set aside and refuse to see: you must close the eyes and call instead upon another vision which is to be waked within you, a vision, the birthright of all, which few turn to see. (PLOTINUS - The Enneads, 1.6 "On Beauty")

I liked your blog so much.. your images are wonderful and as a person who love taking pictures, I enjoyed it throughly.

This post, I can relate with so much and to your thoughts about solitude very much ....

Being in solitude and in silence is a very powerful tool to really know what we are ... really work on what we are inside and finally to cleanse our inner knots formed over the years ... To become something, one should really have to know oneself truly what we want to be ... from inside... as its said, the seed has the tree within... so is the person we are going to be in future, is already within us but we dont really know as it is always hidden in the dust of the constant chaos that mind creates over the innerself through the inputs from the sense from around us. Wishes, desires dreams sense pleasures etc etc.... Its very hard to find this innerself, if you are not able to put the chaos of mind, the chatter all around us to become calm, silent and push it to the back ground and bring the innerself upfront... to see upon, to reflect upon, to work on....

The first step towards doing this is to become silent.... get in to solitude and then consciously stop the chatter of mind... and then go deep within... this is also the basic of meditation.... too.

With out the solitude, one can not stop taking in the inputs from our very active and finely attuned senses towards outside physical world.... And will always live in the chaos around you....

So we need to cut ourself from the sense inputs some times and get into solitude to be within our self ....And when you have actually realized the deep seated seed within you of something, you can be aligned towards doing it in the outside world without any friction, with more comfort and with much more peace within... and that is the best possible starting point for self actualization and becoming what you are designed to be... other wise we keep doing things without being satisfied internally, without pleasure and happiness... and can not really focus doing those things for long time... and ultimately frustrations creeps in and negativity builds up and knots are formed... that need many sittings with psychiatrist to remove... over the years....

I remember, when I was passing out of school, and going to an engineering college almost 30 years back, I have had times after my school exams of almost 30 days... i purposely stopped going out of the house at all... and did not say a single word for 30 days... deep reflection and that has given me lot of strength to be what i am today [though not much as a successful business person... ;-) ] ... the Jain saints from India have had taken vows of silence for decades... Its actually quite powerful technic. Even today I go to Himalayas once in 2-3 years and stay in cave ... for almost a week... just to be with the nature and my self when the concrete jungle i.e. the metro city that I live in becomes too over bearing... to release all the toxicity within my innerself... In fact this new year, I spend my whole week in an ashram and out of those days, one day in total silence or chanting mantra... i.e on the new year day...

Have a look at those wonderful days and infact looking at those images itself gives me lot of peace and energy ... Hope you will enjoy this journey with me at Rishikesh....

Hi Nora -- What a nice post! I appreciate your reflections on the power of solitude and invite you to read my latest post, The Truth of Silence, which has a number of parallels. http://is.gd/1_WndrYour dad sounds like an amazing man!

From Kelly ~Great message, I have been discovering this past 8 months the sacredness of solitude, my alone time is reaping many inner and outer rewards.. I am alone a lot of the time and while occasionally loneliness enters, I discover the beauty and understanding brought from feeling that also xx

Great post! I think that many folks don't understand the nature of the introvert, among other things, and so we frequently get branded as loners, anti-social, etc. I wouldn't survive without my solitude! Thanks for expressing it all so well! Cheers!